Earlier this week, the blogosphere lit up with the news that President Obama’s official weekly schedule did not include a visit to the devastated town of West, Texas, despite the fact that the President will be visiting the region this week.
The initial schedule put out by the White House for the President included attending the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and a fundraiser in Austin, coupled with an overnight stay, but no mention of a visit to the town of West. More than a dozen people were killed and more than 200 were hurt following an explosion at a fertilizer plant in the town on April 17th. A week late, over 50 people remain missing.
The White House seemed to change course by Monday afternoon and publicly stated that Obama would attend a memorial for all the victims after several websites reported the initial schedule.
While many can speculate on the White House’s sudden reversal of course, one thing that can be said is that the blogosphere was responsible for applying pressure in that decision. This stands as further proof that more and more Americans are turning to new media to hold elected officials accountable over the propaganda presented by the old media.
It is a shame that it has fallen to the new media to now do the job the old media use to do: to hold our elected officials accountable to the very people who put them in office.
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